An "evil" paedophile has been found guilty of leading a satanic sex cult from his home in a small town.

Colin Batley, 48, of Kidwelly, West Wales, presided over a quasi-religious cult which preyed on young children and indulged in occult rites.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court found him guilty of carrying out a series of perverted sexual acts on children and adults, including rape.

Batley was the self-styled high priest of the group, which operated from a series of homes in a quiet cul-de-sac in the seaside town.

He and four female fellow members insisted throughout the trial that no cult had ever existed, but the jury dismissed that version of events when they found him guilty of more than two dozen acts of sexual perversion linked to his activities in the cult.

In total he was found guilty of 35 separate offences and warned by the trial judge that he faced a lengthy prison sentence.

His wife, Elaine Batley, 47, Jacqueline Marling, 42, and Shelly Millar, 35, all lived at separate addresses in Clos yr Onnen in Kidwelly. All three have been found guilty of the sex-related charges they faced during the five-week trial.

But alleged cult member Sandra Iveson, 45, was cleared of a single charge of indecency with a child.

Vincent Barden, 70, of Kempston, Bedfordshire, who was not a cult member, was also cleared of a single charge of rape. Batley was jointly charged with Barden in connection with the rape and was also cleared of it. Barden had already admitted two counts of sexual assault on an under-age girl.

Both he, Batley and the other cult members will all be sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Friday.